DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Thoughts on Wimbley...

So I was on the Wimbley was a great draft pick train last year and after his rookie season, it was hard not to.

What happened?



Watching the games and when I see Wimbley it appears quite a few plays he does his duck and run move thing and the OL just pushes him right past the QB making sure he's not any threat. This works well when the other team is running the ball too as Wimbley just runs right by.

Was the rookie season more or less a fluke b/c teams did not know what to expect from him? Is he a one trick pony that didn't take long for other teams to figure out?

I'm just wondering if Wimbley is still playing well but getting much attention or if his duck and run move was quickly figured out. It's disappointing to not have a legit pass rusher and I thought Wimbley could be a great pass rusher for us.

No doubt about it.. he needs another move

Didn't he spin yesterday?

Well for one thing we don't move him around nearly enough.

The guy should be everywhere, disguised so the O-line has a hard time picking up where he's gonna be coming from. Instead I only see him lined up in one spot.

Opponents adapted ..... and he hasn't adapted to their adaptations.

So far, sounds like my thoughts are echoed here. I was just wondering if maybe he was getting double or tripled teamed and I was missing it.

One play I recall from Sunday's game I watched him closely to see what was going on and he spun to the inside and got pancaked by the OLineman. It was actually kinda funny to see him attempt this spin and then bam, flattened.

Must be an OL dream come true - one move - the bum rush or whatever you want to call it and all you have to do is 'guide' him right past the QB or RB. Not too hard at all to defend when you know what's coming I suppose.

To be fair, Wimbley had a decent bull rush last year as well. I believe that's how he got to Carr in the Texans game. To me, it was pretty impressive to see 240+ Wimbley bull rush an offensive tackle and basically push him right into the QB.

But, I agree. He needs a larger repertoire of pass rushing moves. But, I think he also needs to be involved in more stunts, i.e., loops where he's rushing inside, delayed blitzes, lining him up on the inside occasionally, etc. Perhaps having him attack from different angles and different areas will get him out of his funk.

What's up guys I haven't been on lately. Anyways, this brings me to a thought I have had, could of already been posted. Would you still trade with Baltimore and thus pass up Ngata?

Wimbley is not used the way he needs to be.

I'm about to make up a percentage, but probably 80% of the time Wimbley does the shoulder dip move on the LT to try and get to the QB....

He should be used on a more tactical basis than that... let him come inside and battle w/ the guard.. let him wait a sec on the blitz while the o-linemen are getting tangled up w/ other defenders.. let him drop back for the INT. Let Leon or Andra blitz with Wimbley and Andra hit the LT, and Wimbley hit the LG.

Teams have successfully stopped Wimbley's athleticism... but great teams can counter that using different schemes.

I'd also like to see Pool blitz more around the edge with Wimbley.

jc.

Wimbley is always rushing, and always from the same side. it's not a surprise. He really should line up on the line and goto a 4-3, because that is basically what we are doing.

teams are watching for him(at least they were, they may have given up on that now), we should have a few plays where he lines up 5 yards off the line, then runs up before the snap, only to back out into coverage. This would get the attention of the LT and LG, then have Peek or McG rush in between C and LG, basically, putting the Oline off balance.

j/c (and I'm sure I'm echoing posts on here already)

Wimbley is a beast, and like you all have said, used incorrectly. His speed is his greatest asset. I'd like to see us back him off the line and then, essentially, let him have his choice of where he blitzes. Let him wait a second, see where the blockers go, and then come in. I saw Bruschi do that against us when we played NE.

Our DBs will need to actually cover someone (maybe actually chuck them at the line to hold them up a bit), which would give KW time to get into the backfield and disrupt things.

Even if he doesn't get the sack, he forces the QB to do what he doesn't want to, which leads to incompletions, dump offs for short yardage, and turnovers.

I really think that we have some talent on our D (not a ton, but some), and we need to take advantage of it. I think Wimbley is a beast, I think DQ is very good (may not HOF material, but very good), I think Wright is really up and coming, and I think Bodden, Jones and Pool are legit (once again, not HOF material, but will suffice). Peek has also been playing better. I have no idea how much his foot injury is affecting him.

JMHO

What happened?

Nothing.

Julius Peppers, Strahan, all of them have had off years, in fact there are a lot of great pass rushers who struggled in year 2 and saw there sack totals drop significantly...

Leave it alone, it will be fine.

Just clicking.

One of the best blitzes I've seen Wimbley do came against the Raiders last year. He dropped back at the snap, shifted middle and blitzed up the center literally right into Walter's face. I'd like to see that more.

If anyone has the game recorded, watch it and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Wimbley is still learning his position, he's only in his 2nd year, and we expect him to perform like Strahan, or Reggie White, I do think the fans expectation of him was way to high....

The fans expectations weren't as lofty as KM's. He set his goal at 1-sack per game. I feel that with the proper coaching on different moves, being able to roam along the line to attack from different angles, he will indeed be another Peppers or Strahan. JMHO Go Brownies!!!

Wimbley is what he is,a light in ass college DE,attempting to make the transition to NFL LB.He possess great speed and athleticism,but no knowledge of how play his position.He is the only pass rushing threat we have,and his moves are limited due to lack of experience,that's not agood combo.
BTW,Haluchuck happens to be a good LB coach.It's hard to make chicken salad from chicken .

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It's hard to make chicken salad from chicken .

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not really..Chicken salad is made from chicken....your sounding like me...

My take on Wimbley. Isn;t so much a take on Wimbley.


Here's what bothers me the most. Kellen Winslow is having a great year, and Chud is being lauded as a genious because they move him around and use his abilities, and create mismatches and confuse the defense.


Why in the heck dont we do that with our defenders. Kam is a PERFECT example of someone who would benefit from using his pass rushing ability from all sorts of angles.

It bothers me how little we mix it up on D. if it works for KWOffense it can work for KWDefense

This isn't really directed at you and could go in any number of threads about the defense, but I'll put it here.....


Our defense isn't nearly as bad as people want to think it is.... and its certainly not "6 or 7 good players away from being good" either...... There I said it... take all the stats in the world you want and put them in a blender for all I care...

Last year early in the season our defense was getting better and on the verge of breaking out into dominance and our offense was lightyears away from even being competitive...

A quick reminder... we had a project at best at the QB position and nobody on the roster that anybody thought we ever be more than a Trent Dilfer type QB... BE was on the verge of "bustdom" and should be cut because he dropped passes and had an attitude problem... KWII was hobbled and might never be the same... Shaffer had to go, he was awful.... JJ just didn't have it any more, he needed to go too.... McKinney was awful... Tucker was having serious issues, and we had some other teams cast-off playing center....

what changes have we made since then? Well, we swapped Lewis for Droughns, which in my opinion is little more than a lateral move.. we added Thomas and Steinbach... and we decided on a QB... that's it. We essentially have TWO new players on offense... Now Edwards is a pro-bowl stud, ditto for Winslow, JJ is Mr. Consistency again, Shaffer, Tucker, and McKinney are part of the line that have kept Anderson from getting sacked... and a whole host of people want to fight to keep Anderson..... These are all players that a fair number of people either wanted out of here or had serious doubts about before the season started....

So ya'll can sit in your pessimistic little bubbles and complain about the defense, but mark my words, a similar thing is going to happen by this time next year... If we can add a couple players (the defensive equivalents of Thomas and Steinbach)... Wimbley will be on his way to the pro-bowl next year, our much maligned safeties will once again be considered young studs, Wright will be a real find, Bodden will be back to being good... and on down the line...

So mark my words, a lot of the players being bad mouthed on this board right now, will be the anchors of our much improved defense by this time next year....

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let him come inside and battle w/ the guard

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This is exactly what they did last week against Seattle. Wimbley stunted inside, and actually ate up BOTH the LG and LT, while Holley corner blitzed, and Leon came up the middle, inside the RG. Both Williams AND Holley got through.

Hasslebeck got the ball out just in time on that play, and for a nice gain, if I recall.

Anyway, the result of the play isn't why I described it. I laid it out to give evidence that these very things are showing up in the D package. Truth be told, I've seen new wrinkles every week since the bye, and I'm sure more will pop up in the future.

I'm giving this D all year to find it's groove... It's true that we're undermanned on D, but I still think there's room for improvement with the players we have now.


some facts & an extra .02,
Clemdawg

Top tier offensive left tackles are hot commodities, good defensive ends and nose tackles can be had much later...

And can we snag just one pro-bowl type defensive player? Sure we can.

I'm not saying the turnaround is going to be as drastic as was the case for the offense.. I'm just saying that with just one or two very solid additions, I expect this defense to be in the top half next year... (A little luck won't hurt either... our offense *knock on wood* has been relatively injury free this year) ...

I totally agree with DC on this. I see two premier FA this offseason on D. Suggs and Haynesworth. I think both could fit our needs. Not saying we go after either or land em, but there are some FAs out there that would help.

Also only rushing 3 or 4 guys on 5 O lineman and a possible running back blocking isnt in our favor....i agree we do need to mix it up to our advantage...we have athletic guys like Wimbley, Leon, Peek, Pool...and even Eric Wright who got a sack against pittsburgh

I think Wimbley is only going to get better as Phil brings in some quality DL help!

Although, we have no first round draft pick, between free agency and the draft....much focus will be on the defensive side of the ball, especially the Line!

We fixed the OL and now it is time to fix the DL.......this will make Wimbley a much better player for sure, when he has some quality players working side by side with him!

It is very exciting to have Wimbley as a Brown, I have a feeling he will be around for a long time......along with quit a few others on this defense!

I don't think its Wimbley DC. I think its our vanilla defense. We don't do anything like attacking. There is something wrong when a big fat QB like Roethlesburger can run 30 yds before anyone can lay a hand on him. If you take our D man for man just who is horrible? Our safties are young and not great. Our LBs are fair and for the most part young. Our D line? I have been reading where one of the Smiths is a pretty good player. Damned if I can tell them apart. I mean man for man its not a great D but its surely better than 32nd. Maybe Granthan should shake it up a little and quit being such a pu...Scardy cat.

I think that grantham should also stop being a....our defensive coordinator.

we need someone new in here. It worked for the O

Wimbly is a one move speed rusher.

He looks thicker to me since last year, so his speed isn't even as good.

I doubt the guy ever matches the production of last year.

typical sophmore slump, also, while he didn't really receive national attention last year, he did get some around the league, so teams are more ready for him, they've adjusted, now he needs to adjust...

it would also help if the other guys on his team would do their job (davis)